I call this accessories, because they are add ons that bring your note some more life. As it put this together I realized there is more about it: you can even add some sense to your icons with accessories. So let me
Add wind
You can add wings to anything to give an icon some light, free spirit. And you can use colors especially to support the real world meaning (here yellow for light).
Or just add meaningful symbols or words. Here a simple t-shirt supports for saying “XL costs” to be expected.
Or you can give any of your items a face. In this example you just pimp a regular box with text or other content – drawing attention.
You see, that a lot of simple elements can add character and meaning to your icons. First step: have your icon library, second step find some little things to add meanings. And always: be creative and try around. Icons become more and more famous for communication. For example, last week I stumbled over some drawings at Mc Donalds:
Not new, but in my perception more and more popular. Thinking of older examples we probably all know the drawing from Monopoly:
Watch around in your daily live, you will find a lot of inspiration and use cases. And it is ok to “steel” ideas for drawing, this is how everybody got better and so did I and will you …